Thanksgiving!

Alas, it is that time of the year again.  I have plenty to be grateful myself.  This year was a bit rocky for start, but it gradually became better and better as time moved on.  No guys, I'm not going to dinner with my family or at a friend's place.  I am working from 3pm to midnight.  Why, you might ask?  Well, I certainly don't have any close relatives hanging around the West Coast and Thanksgiving means double pay!  I got some Thanksgiving texts from my friends and I appreciated them.

Everything celebrates Thanksgiving in this country

As much as I hated what happened to me earlier this year, I thought it was a great learning experience.  I learned to be careful about my feelings.  This was where I learned the hard way about not to date a freshman.  I found out, once again, how lucky I was to have supportive friends who were willing to pick me up when I'm feeling down.

I started to discover what I like in a girl and what I could do to be a little bit more likable overall.  That's a work in progress and we'll see how it goes.  Personally, I would like to be married before I graduate in 2014, but whatever the good Lord has in store for me, I'll take it.

I made another drastic decision when it came to career path.  I eventually chose to prepare for medical school.  All the nonsense happening in life somehow made me want to achieve more for myself.  I believe that when I aim higher, I'll gain more as a result if I try my hardest and do what is right.  Besides, Dr. Lee sounds rather nifty, no?

I met great people throughout the year and had great memories of the times spent with them.  I could list them all here, but I know it wouldn't do some people justice when every person I know contributed somewhat to my character development.  They may or may not realize it, but I know.  When it's all said and done, most people that are under the tag Inner Circle tended to have positive influence over me in some aspects of life.

Late night ping pong

This morning (early morning), we rearranged the furniture and made a makeshift ping pong table.  The said table assembled via two dining tables from the Riv and loads of DVD cases as nets.  Initially, only Leland, Ryan, and Taylor played, but I joined later when I finished up some businesses on the net.  We had great fun and a good work out.

I hope there were no one downstairs.  We were rather active and loud.  The floor squeaked whenever we moved around.  We played standard ping pong and then a made up game that involved us running in circles and keep hitting the ball.  Perhaps that could an FHE activity one day or just for fun with friends.

Lastly, I tied up the loose ends on my genealogy chart.  I'll add another side of the family later, but I managed to combine duplicate data and made the request forms ready for some great-grandmothers.  I'll be in need of assistance from the sisters in the ward soon.

Life is good.  I know it's hard to believe sometimes, but I keep reminding myself that it's really not that bad.  In fact, most of us here in the ward are rather lucky and should be grateful for what we are and where we are today.  Of course, there's always room for improvement.

Oh look!  Pirate Sheep!!

The Calm After

I didn't get to blog this past Sunday simply because I had a major test the day after and I wanted to put more time into studying.  In the aftermath of it all, I apparently did not perform as well as I should have despite putting forth more hours into studying the material.  Quite ironic, right?  Then again, I probably would have gotten a worse score if I didn't study as much as I did this past weekend.

Ahh, the tests before the finals...

Last week was hectic because I had several tests I had to take.  Overall, I think I did okay.  I'm usually not satisfied unless I get at least 90% on them.  That's just the standard I've set for myself.  Some people may be content with an 80%, but that's not for me.  I don't feel too bad when I get 85% or above, but an A- makes my day.

Due to work and exam circumstances, I've missed out on a good number of activities that happened throughout the week.  Too bad I won't find the results to TA applications until after the finals.

Luckily, there are things to do around here for entertainment.  I changed many of the sounds on my laptop to correspond with the sounds in Tiberian Sun and Red Alert.  It was a fun little project and I think that gave my laptop a bit more personality.

As for the people in my life?  I am grateful for them.  I'm not sure how much I add to their lives, but I know my life would have been very dull without them.  I want to thank my roommates, my Inner Circle, the girls of 19, 20, and 24 (especially 24 because they are my best friends).  Be sure to check out Sarah's doggelganger on her Facebook!

(That smiley didn't turn out right...)

Anyways, I did some family history work today and I'm excited to have one of my female friends to help me with my great-grandmothers.  I just need to make the connections on the Family History Search this break and see if I can piece the family tree together.

NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

As I sit here blogging, I begin to wonder why I do this.  How many people actually read this blog anyways?  I know some people do, but obviously not a lot.  I guess it all depends on what I'm trying to accomplish with these entries.

As the end of semester draws in closer, I just want to keep up the pace and hopefully I'll get good marks in my classes.  The more I think about it, the more I am annoyed with the fact that I'm still working on my bachelor's.  But, the time I took off to serve a mission was worth it.  I guess it doesn't matter how old I am when I enter med school.  The most important thing is having the will to go through with it.

I got a letter from Klint recently.  He probably won't get my response until the week after.  Can't really wish him a Thanksgiving, but a letter counts.  I don't even know if they celebrate it in Germany.  I also wrote a letter to Mary...who I haven't wrote since she entered her mission field and it has been over a year.  Wow, I feel like an idiot.

With the way things are, I just keep chugging along until the next best thing crosses my path.

Storm Before Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving coming up!

With the Thanksgiving break right around the corner, it is one of the busiest times of the year.  I have 3 tests and 1 research paper due before the break and they've been taking up most of my time.

The good part about having tests before the break is that I get to focus on other things during the holidays (i.e. work, personal organization, etc).  Once again, I won't be going home this year.  I won't go home for Christmas either.  Don't worry, I'll be home at around the end of May and beginning of June.  Depending on what I'll be doing, I may stay from a week to 2 weeks.

I noticed that I've been rather self-centered on my recent posts.  My friends seldom showed up in my blog posts this semester.  This is mainly due to the fact that most of my entries are now weekly summaries versus daily happenings.  Nevertheless, I'll try to focus more on the people around me, who I'm grateful for during my stay here in Provo.

Apparently, Emily, who comes down from Idaho to visit Eric (and her sister Alyssa) often has been trying to swing by to see me and Taylor.  Of course, I work at nights and Taylor had his own plans, so she missed us most of the times.

That's the model

I decided to upgrade my phone this week.  I've been using my backup phone since I've been back from my mission in 2010.  I bought a new phone, same number still, as an early Christmas present for myself.  It's one of those Samsung Touch Messengers.  I plan to have this phone for the next couple of years.

Lance and I discovered that the fried chicken at Macey's is awesome!  I didn't know we could get discounts for choosing thighs and drumsticks on the $11 10-piece meal.  Looks like I may have something to look forward to every other week from now on.

Study groups for the upcoming tests were awesome until nobody showed up on Saturday...I was sad because I was hoping to get so much work done.  But, because of the study groups, I realized that my MMBio240 class was actually more manageable than I thought.  I just wish I discovered the method to handle this class earlier in the semester.  The chance of getting a B+ seems imminent.  That's okay because as long as I get to do research with Dr. Berges, I'm fine.

Speaking of him, I discovered 2 more connections to the Valley Forge Stake this week.  Apparently, Cristyann and RJ both knew people from that stake.  In fact, Cristyann lived there for some time and knows Lizzie.  What the heck?  When did all these East Coasters started showing up?  I never noticed them until this semester.

*Shakes fist at confusing numbers*

I had my usual visiting during Sunday.  I played a few card games with Kelli when I visited apartment 24.  In case you haven't caught on, I swing by 19, 20, and 24 quite frequently.  So, if you ever wish to find me, you should try those places besides 35.

Anyways, one day I shall beat Kelli in Speed!  We played with Rook cards, so it was slightly different.  I still can't tell a 6 and 9 on the top of my eyes.  She baked some cookies for the ward fireside.  They were pretty good, but I think she doesn't give herself enough credit.  She insisted that they were burnt.  Perhaps I'm just not a picky eater?

A note of interest: Amy Freeman is an awesome cook!

I'm really excited for the Winter Semester because there are so many things I could do and so many possibilities.  Oh, I'll tell you more about it next week!

Twist of Fate

This week has been pretty good!  I got a lot of things done and everything started to look much better.  I took Bishop Hart's advice and make a few changes in my routines, so life is getting better, but I know I can improve its quality by putting forth time for some extra things.

I had 3 tests this week, but that did not bother me because the semester is coming to an end.  It's November already!  I'm ready for the Thanksgiving break and get myself some sleep and hours for work.

Who knew little stinkers could be so cute?!

Recently, I discovered that I'm somehow cursed with freshman girls from Heritage Halls.  That's story for another time.  Those of you who already know the story will find my life comical.  After all, the chance of stuff like that happening is not that great.

I wrote a poem for the first time in a while.  I called it Autumn Aria and posted it on my Facebook Notes.  It has seven stanzas with the rhymes within each stanza.  It's been a while, but I was pleased with the work.

A funny thing happened this week.  I found out that my MMBio240 professor was from my home ward when he was doing his PhD at UPenn.  Talk about a small world!  He moved out of the Valley Forge Ward in '05, so I never got to know him since I didn't even get baptized until '07.  This happened because I went to his office to see my test scores and find out what and why I got wrong on the tests.

Discover ridiculous stuff like this!

I hope I can do research with him, but that's only provided if I get a good grade in this class.  If not, I guess there's always another professor I could work for.  Unfortunately, I can only lose 21 more points in that class before I lose an A-!  Well, I won't be able to TA for that class, but I hope getting a B+ won't prevent me from being accepted into a research position.  I need the credits for medical school.

This week was fast Sunday and I did bear my testimony.  I also enjoyed all those who shared theirs.  There was also a fireside tonight by President Boyd K. Packer.  He focused mostly on repentance and how justice and mercy worked with each other.  I'm sure people get different things out of it than me, but it was overall a good experience.

With life moving forward, I shall let everyone know what's happening at the end of December when I figure out I've been chosen or not.  Write to you all later!